Fire tray assembly support



ug. 5, i947. H, HOWE 2,42536 FIRETRAY ASSEMBLY SUPPORT Filed Feb. 28, 1945 Patented Aug. 5, H347V STATES PATENT GFFIC FIRE TRAY ASSEMBLY SUPPORT Harold Howe, Rowayton, Conn.

Application February 28, 1945, Serial No. 580,143

Claims.' (Cl. 248-156) be readily positioned in front of a fireplace or in relation to a iixed grill and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination of fire tray and support means whereby the re tray may be positioned at any desired height within the limits of the support means, with the re tray substantially parallel with the grill or other surface on which the material or objects to be cooked are to be placed.

Another object of the invention is to provide support means for a re tray which will provide a rm and dependable support in use.

Other objects of the invention will be in part obvious or in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof all as will be pointed out in the following description and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in thefollowing claims.

The invention willy best be understoodif the following description is read in connection with the drawings, in which, y

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fireplace with va grill top showing a fire tray assembly embodying my invention in operative relation therewith;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the structure shown in Figure 1; l

Figure 3 is a plan view ofthe structure in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail side view indicating the two positions of the handles of the fire tray;

'Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan view'of the detail shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a detail view of one of the tray frame members showing it as provided with both inwardly and outwardly extending flanges; and

Figure '7 is a detail view showing a modicatiqn of one of theelements of my fire tray assembly.

In the embodiment of my invention shown herein I employ means on which a lire may be shown vto cooperate with vertically extendinggfsupport 2 built, and which is adjustable vertically with respect to the stationary grill on which the pans,

kettles, etc., are supported, so that the fire may` be brought closer to the grill or dropped down further from the grill as may be desired in accordance, for example, with the type of cooking-broiling, roasting, frying, etc., the size of the re, the kind of fuel employed, the amount of wind and the like.

The movable fire support or hearth is referred to herein as a nre tray. The fire tray I0 comprises a rectangular frame II comprising the end members Il and IIb and the side members IIc and Hd. Desirably the members Ila, lib, iI, and IId are angle members, joined together in any suitable way as by welding, and arranged with an upwardly extending flange u forming the perimeters of the fire tray, and the inwardly and substantially horizontally extending flange h, forming a supporting surface on which the fire supporting material, which desirably may be of wire net or mesh covering I2; is supported. While the fire supporting surface may, if desired, be made of non-foraminous material, such for example as sheet metal, I have found 4that a fairly 'fine mesh covering. is often desirable and advantageous since it facilitates bringing an upward draft .of-` air into contact with the re, land serves automatically to discharge and eliminate small ash material. y:

The re tray is providedwith means adapted means for positioning the retray at anyY ydesired height ,between the ground surface anda stationary grili I3, illustrated herein as extending across the top of a typical, three-sidedoutdoor fireplace F, grill member I3 desirably being provided withra downwardly extending ange I3a at its front end for positioning the grill on 'the fireplace F or other meansv forsupporting and xing the position of grill member I3. As illustrated herein the sides ofthe tray may be provided with outwardly extending flanges f respectively (Figure 6), each of which iswbored, or

preferably providedwith an outwardly opening slot s, toreceive'tlie vertically extending support members I4a and Illb. Preferably the members |49' and Mb comprise part .of a U-shaped structure, the portions :Ille and Mb being spaced apart in substantially'parallel relation and said members being interconnected at one endl by the interconnecting or intermediate portion I4, thus leaving one end of support members I4 and Mb free, and these free endsmay be provided with bases, or as illustrated they may be pointed to facilitate driving them into the ground, to form vertically extending supports on which the re tray may |be supported and so that its position on said supports may be varied from' time to time as desired to bring the fire tray nearer to, or to remove it further from, said grill I3.

In combination with the support means I provide' a spacing member I5 comprising a thin intermediate portion I6 of substantial width, and end portions II and I8 respectively, preferably twisted through 90 relative to portion I 8, so thlt they extend in a plane angularly related to the portion I6, the said end portions each being provided with an' eyelet e of a size to receive the support members I4 and I4". It will be understood that the distance between the eyelets e of end portions I1 and I8 will preferably substantially correspond with the distance between the slots s of the outwardly extending flanges f on the sides of the iire tray, so that member I5 may serve to maintain the desired spacing relation between support members I4a and Mb, to the end that fire tray I may be readily moved up or down on the support members and its position thereon adjusted as maybe desired.

If the ends of the support members are driven into the ground the spacing member I5 may be buried in the ground, preferably with the intermediate portion |6 arranged so that it is in a, substantially vertical plane and thus tends to resist rotation of the support members I4 and I4I toward or away from the fire and grill I3, said support members I4 and I4b being threaded through eyelets I'I and I8 of the spacing member I5 to any desired extent. If desired, instead of inserting the free ends of vertical support members I4l and I 4b in the ground, the intermediate portion I4 interconnecting the leg portions I4a and |41 may be employed as the base of the support means. Thus, for example, portion |4 may be inserted in the ground leaving the free ends of leg portions I4a and I4b extending upwardly. Spacing member I5 may be threaded on support members |4a and |4b and used asbefore, and, if portion I4c is inserted in the ground, it may be buried in the ground to give stability to the supporting means as described above.

I prefer to have the slotted means on the tray which are to engage the support members I4 and I4b somewhat angularly related with respect to the surface I2 of the re tray so that the said surface will be substantially horizontal, or substantially .parallel with the grill I3, after the fire tray has been positioned at the desired height on the said supports. and is fixed in this position, and thus achieve the advantages which will be pointed out. Thus instead of having on the sides of the fire tray, outwardly extending flanges f, extending at right angles to the upwardly extending frame portion u, as illustrated in Figure 6, I prefer to relate the flanges f so that they are inclined downwardly with respect to the main body of the fire tray and particularly surface |2, in a direction away from the front end of the tray and toward the rear end of the tray. The flanges f may be cast integrally with and in angular relation with the upwardly extending flange u of the embodiment shown in Figure 6, or slots s, for receivingy the upright supports I4 and I4", may be provided in separately formed members I9 and 20 respectively (Figure 7), which desirably are angle members and each comprise the upwardly extending portion u' and the horizontally exten-ding portion j', said members I9 and 20 joined to the sides and ||d of the fire tray respectively with the upwardly extending portions u' of the members I9 and 20 in abutting relation to the upwardly extending members u of the tray sides and Il". Members I9 and 20 may be secured to said members and ||d in any suitable way as for example by welding, and with the flange portions f' of members I9 and 20 extending outwardly from the sides of the fire tray.

The slots s should be of a size to readily receive therein the support members I4 and I4b and at the same time provide as close a, fit as is compatible with the easy handling and assembly of the parts, and will permit the fire tray to be moved freely upwardly and downwardly along the support members I4a and I4b to position the fire tray at whatever height, between the ybase or ground and the grill I3, is desired. It will be noted that the slots s are positioned to the rear of a median line extendingbetween the front and rear edges of the fire tray, and accordingly the fire tray, after it has been-positioned at the desired height on the supporting members I4a and Mb, with said members in the said slots s respectively, will tend to rotate forwardly and thus cause the front and rear edges of slots s to frictionally engage the support members I4 and I4b respectively, thereby holding the fire tray in place. The fire tray will tend to rotate relative to the support members to an extent determined by the play between the supporting members I4u and IIb and the slots s respectively. In other words, if the Width of the slots s and the diameter of the members I4 and |4b, is substantially the same, the extent of rotation of the fire tray in arriving at a position where it is firmly and frictionally engaged upon said support members |4, and I4", will be more limited than if there is a greater diierence between the width of the slots s and the diameters or thickness of said members I4 and |41. By arranging the flanges containing slots s, as for example the members I 9 and 20, in angular relation to the sides and ||d of the re tray and inclined downwardly from front to rear with respect thereto, the extent of the angular relation being determined in relation to the extent of the tolerance between the members I 4 and I4b and the slots s, I am able to cause the fire tray to be in a substantially horizontal plane afterit has become frictionally engaged on the support members I4a and |41, and thus a suitable, level surface is provided to receive and support the fuel for the lire.

In order to facilitate the disengagement of the re tray from a given position on support members i4EL and |41. and its movement to another vertical plane on said support members, I provide the handle members 2| and 22, joined to the ilre tray at a point to the rear of a median line between the front and rear `edges of the fire tray, and preferably to the rear of slots s. As shown handle members 2| and 22 ar; attached at the sides ||c and ||i of the fire tray, and are preferably joined thereto as by pivots 23 and 24, connecting said handles to the outwardly extending flanges in which the slots s are provided, and which, in the embodiments of the invention described above, may be either flanges f or flanges l'. The pivots 23 and 24 make it possible to rotate the handles from a position extending rearwardly from the tray, in substantially the planes of the sides of the tray, into positions in which the handles lie along the respective sides of the tray, and extend forwardly substantially in the planes of the sides of the tray, thus making the lire tray assembly into a compact unit adapted for shipping or storage.

the art herein described might be varied in varlous parts, all without departing from the scope" l'l0 of the invention, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. A re tray assemblyvcomprising a U-shaped member adapted to be inserted in the earth to provide support means for a tray, and a tray having means thereon adapted to co-actwith said support means to position said tray on said support means in any one of a number of different horizontal planes, and a spacing member adapted to extend between the arms of said U- shaped member and to maintain them in spaced relation.

2. A re tray assembly ycomprising vertically extending support means for a tray, and a tray having means thereon adapted to co-act with 'said support means to position said tray on said support means in any one of a number of different horizontal planes, said means comprising out-` wardly extending flanges slotted to receive said supporting means'and angularly related tothe surface of said tray to cause said tray to 11e in a substantially horizontal plane after said slots have been frictionally engaged with said support means at a desired height.

of said slots to frictionally engage said support means to position the tray on said support means, and handle means extending rearwardly with respect to said slots whereby said tray may be rotated rearwardly to overcome the frictional engagement between vs aid slots and said support means and permit said tray to be adjusted in height on said support means.

4. A fire tray assembly comprising a U-shaped vmember adapted to be insertedvinv the earth to provide support means for a tray, means for spacing the legs of said U-shaped member com-v prising a thin intermediate portion ofv substantial width, and end portions twisted through 90 relv ative to the intermediate portion, said end portions having eyelets to receive the legs of said U-shaped member respectively, and a re tray having outwardly projecting anges, the'said lflanges having` cut-outs adapted to receive the legs of said U-s'haped support means respectively so that the tray in one angular position is readily L movable up and down on said U-shaped member, and in another angular position of the tray is 3. A fire tray assembly comprising a tray .hav-

ing laterally extending flanges provided with outwardly opening slots, a. plurality of vertically extending members adapted tov be fixed in the earth in spaced relation and adapted to enterl the said slots of said fire tray, the'greater portion of said fire tray extending forwardly of said slots so that when said vertically extending members are positioned in the slots of said re tray said tray will tend to rotate forwardly with respect to said support means thereby causing the edges iixed in its position on said legs.

5. A re tray assembly comprising a U-shaped .support member, means slldeably krelated tothe legs of said support member adapted to maintain the legs in spaced relation, and a, re tray adapted to be mounted on said support means between the legs of said U-shaped support.

. HAROLD HOWE.

REFERENCES CITED The following' references are of' vrecord. in the ille of this patent:

UNITED lSTATES PATENTS 

